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Report on Globalization

Name: Zhiyin Jiang

Vancouver Premier College

Econ 237

Instructor: Abdul Vance

6 / 21/ 2021

Concept and history

There actually are very many definitions of globalization at present in a basically big way. In general, globalization refers to the increasing global connection, the development of sort of human life on a global scale, and the rise of global consciousness, very contrary to popular belief. Countries generally are interdependent in politics, economy, and trade in a kind of big way. Globalization can also specifically be particularly explained as the compression of the world and the view of the globe, which literally is significant. Globalization has also played an important role in us. “On one hand, globalization has created new jobs and economic growth through the cross-border flow of goods, capital, and labor. On the other hand, this growth and job creation are not distributed evenly across industries or countries” (Fernando, 2021, para.5). At the same time, “Globalization is an interconnected set of economic phenomena. These include liberalization and deregulation of markets, asset privatization, waivers of state functions, technology spread, international distribution of production, and the integration of capital markets” (Kasych & Vochozka, 2019, p 2)

Globalization essentially has a long and complicated history, or so they for the most part thought. “When Europeans in the 1400s set sail across the Atlantic, looking for shorter spice routes to China and India. Many marks the voyages of Christopher Columbus and other sea-faring captains for opening commercial trade routes across the world as the beginning of globalization” (The INVESTOPEDIA TEAM, 2020, para.2). When globalization began to literally develop, it basically is much more modern, not that long ago, basically contrary to popular belief. “However, important developments in the latter part of the twentieth century, particularly the 1990s, accelerated these processes” (Globalization (article), n.d., para.5). With the expansion of the impact of globalization on human society, globalization has gradually aroused the attention of various countries in the fields of politics, education, society, culture and so on to a large extent. Countries are basically interdependent in politics, economy, trade and so on. This is very important from any point of view.

The need, significance, and characteristics

Globalization requires cooperation among nations and a balanced distribution of population and resources among them. After the second industrial revolution, the degree of globalization, especially economic globalization, has been further deepened. A globalized division of labor, capital, commodity and goods and an industrial chain have gradually taken shape. Before the global financial crisis in 2008, the global industrial chain was in a stage of continuous expansion. Globalization is promoting global economic development, increasing economic growth rate and efficiency at a faster pace. However, due to the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, the global flow of people and goods has been greatly hindered. Many countries have chosen to tighten policies on key industrial chains. Dragging the global economy into a deep recession, eroding global economic growth. The fight against the pandemic is a global problem, but disparities in economic development and vaccine development capacity between different countries at such a critical time have contributed to the unequal access of poor countries to vaccines.

The significance of globalization is to connect the world closely, so that the world's resources have been the most effective allocation and improve the world economic benefits. “The world has become integrated economically, politically, socially and culturally through the advances of technology, transportation and communication” (Davies, E & Egbuchu, S., 2019). “Global economic integration has increased dramatically in recent decades. Trade, for example, has grown from nearly 40 percent of global GDP in 1990 to 57 percent in 2015. Over the same period, the stock of foreign direct investment has increased from roughly 10 percent of global GDP to 34 percent. Ultimately, economies have become more integrated and interdependent” (Dudley. W.C., 2017, para.11).

The characteristic of globalization has three things. First, is liberalization. “It is a result of globalization, in liberalization, there is a free exchange of goods and capital is along with service and technology between different countries. This allows the country to flourish and prosper by growing its trade and economy” (Bhasin, H., 2020, para.10). The international flow of goods, capital, and technology has increased at an unprecedented rate. Second, countries have become more interdependent, and global economic cooperation has reached a new starting point. Third, it provides productive advantages and employment opportunities. multinational corporations are playing an increasingly important role in the world economy. The enterprise can actively layout overseas, expand the international market, the enterprise will be able to find the global blue ocean market and customer groups, reconnect the international market, customers, enterprise products.

Many countries are open for trading, the companies can set up their manufacturing plant where the availability of labor and land is relatively economical. This brings down the production cost of the company even lower. This also increases employment opportunities in the country where the factory is set up. This may also increase the standard of living of people working in factories. (Bhasin, H., 2020, para.35)

Advantages and disadvantages

First, globalization can help to enhance the channel of cultural exchange between countries. “Globalization makes it easier than ever to access foreign culture, including food, movies, music, and art. This free flow of people, goods, art, and information is the reason you can have Thai food delivered to your apartment as you listen to your favorite UK-based artist or stream a Bollywood movie” (velocityglobal, 2020, para.9). This is exactly what we can experience in our daily life. Each country has its own unique cultural style and eating habits. And globalization allows us to feel all this even if we can't leave home. This makes it easier for us to understand the local conditions and customs of other countries. It also helps to spread cultures among countries.

A useful example of cultural globalization:

for instance, the trading of commodities such as coffee or avocados. Coffee is said to be originally from Ethiopia and consumed in the Arabid region. Nonetheless, due to commercial trades after the 11th century, it is nowadays known as a globally consumed commodity. Avocados, for instance, grown mostly under the tropical temperatures of Mexico, the Dominican Republic or Peru. They started by being produced in small quantities to supply the local populations but today guacamole or avocado toasts are common in meals all over the world. (“for instance,”, 2020, para.24)

Second, it is conducive to the spread of science and technology and innovation. “Many countries around the world remain constantly connected, so knowledge and technological advances travel quickly. Because knowledge also transfers so fast, this means that scientific advances made in Asia can be at work in the United States in a matter of days” (velocityglobal, 2020, para.10). Nowadays, the development of science and technology has entered a mode of rapid development. All this depends on the advantages of globalization. It enables the R & D achievements of various countries to spread rapidly. While helping some backward countries, we should also make our country stronger. Science and technology are also the fundamental driving force of economic globalization. Because of the development of science and technology, people have developed and improved many means of transportation, such as airplanes, cruise ships, trains and so on. Let the economic ties and economic interdependence of all countries be greatly enhanced than before. Third, Globalization has helped narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, which has been a problem for a long time. “Globalization has helped narrow inequality between the poorest and richest people in the world, with the number living in extreme poverty cut by half since 1990” (What is globalization, 2021, para.20).

Globalization has really several downsides in a subtle way. First,Globalization has led to rapid advances in technology all over the world. And robots are gradually replacing human beings. Statistics show that “A typical industrial robot can cost about £4 an hour to operate, compared to average total European labour costs of about £40 an hour - or £9 an hour in China. And robots are getting cheaper to buy and are increasingly able to do more complex tasks” (Bowler. T, 2017, para.14). This will allow more companies to choose to use robots to work for them, as it can greatly reduce their production costs. It has resulted in the unemployment of many workers and led to the gap between the rich and the poor. Second, globalization will encourage the spread of disease. Globalization, in a sense, is also a way to better communicate the cultures of different countries. It is also encouraging people to study or travel abroad. “If global travel restricts eased, then issues with malaria and tropical disease could spread to portions of the world where exposures are minimal. Tuberculosis, certain influenza strains, and other communicable disease could produce outbreaks at epidemic levels” (Gaille. L, 2018, para.22). The global COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 is another good example. Many people fly all over the world, either for work or for pleasure. This is too easy for the current state of technology to control, and this epidemic has spread all over the world. People are still getting infected and dying.

Top 10 countries in global GDP table：

Top 10 countries in global GDP graph：

Source：https://www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/

United States in the global GDP has always been the first. It has the strongest economy in the world. the United States has priority over other countries in science and technology research and innovation.

With China's rapid development and population growth, GDP is only second to the United States.

Japan rates high in the automobile industry. But Japan is short of resources.

Germany is Europe's largest economy. In machinery, vehicles and other areas are a big exporter, but the problem of aging in European countries is also becoming increasingly serious.

India's economy has been seriously damaged because of the outbreak of the epidemic.

Britain's trade with the rest of Europe is at an impasse over Brexit.

France is mainly based on tourism, but because of the epidemic, the French tourism business suffered

Unemployment in Italy is extremely high, and the economy is in a state of turmoil.

Brazil is the largest economy in South America. They have always been dominant in agriculture.

Canada is a big oil saver, and because of its proximity to the United States, much of its trade is tied to the United States.

Top 10 countries in international trade table (2020)：

Top 10 countries in international trade graph：